MISSION, TX-—Officials with tool maker Black & Decker have signed a lease to locate a manufacturing facility here that will create as many as 420 jobs, according to several sources familiar with the decision. The company signed a lease on a 270,000-square-foot facility that will be located at an industrial park.
CAMDEN, SC—Haier America is investing $72 million in South Carolina to expand its refrigerator manufacturing operation here. The project will add 410 new jobs.
CLEVELAND—Four North American assembly plants are among the six factories named as Industry Week magazine’s “Best Plants.” The six factories are Boston Scientific (Maple Grove, MN); Cessna Mexico (Chihuahua, Mexico); L.B. Foster Rail Technologies Corp. (Vancouver, BC); General Cable Corp. (Marion, IN); The Raymond Corp. (Greene, NY); and T&S Brass and Bronze Works (Travelers Rest, SC).
This month marks the official celebration of the world’s first moving assembly line. On Oct. 7, 1913, 140 assemblers stationed along a 150-foot chassis line at a Ford Motor Co. plant just north of Detroit stood in place as the work came to them.
SCHAUMBURG, IL—Sunstar Americas Inc., a manufacturer of oral health care products, is building a new manufacturing facility here that could employ 400 people.
KANSAS CITY, KS—GM will invest $600 million to upgrade its assembly plant here. Construction on a new 450,000-square-foot paint shop, a stamping press and efficiency enhancements at the plant will begin this year.
CLEVELAND—The CNH tractor assembly plant in Wichita, KS, and the Ethicon medical device assembly plant in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, are among six U.S. factories picked as IndustryWeek’s “Best Plants.”
ATHENS, GA—Caterpillar’s new assembly plant here could create twice as many indirect jobs as the 1,400 workers who will be on the company’s payroll, Gov. Nathan Deal predicted Tuesday.
